


there's gonna come a day when you feel better

by wholesome_gay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, POV Sirius Black, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28271124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholesome_gay/pseuds/wholesome_gay
Summary: A bright moment in a dark year.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	there's gonna come a day when you feel better

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Up the Wolves" by The Mountain Goats.

Sirius didn't care for Christmas as a kid—it was a formal affair that involved relatives and family friends he despised—but he loved it as a teenager and then young adult. He spent several Christmases at Hogwarts, a few with the Potters, and two with Remus.

As of now, Sirius hadn't celebrated Christmas in fifteen years. He hadn't expected this year to be much different—Remus, he’d assumed, would be visiting his mother, and Harry was supposed to spend the holiday at the Weasleys’ house.

But today, 12 Grimmauld Place was full of life and so thoroughly decorated that it was almost unrecognizable. Almost. Sirius found himself happier than he ever thought he could be here. He hadn't thought about killing himself in days. He even indulged in imagining a future with Remus and Harry in the same place, somewhere else, somewhere that could be a home—the three of them finally a family like they should have been all along.

Sirius didn't have a lot of options available for Christmas shopping—he was limited to mail order catalogs—but he’d done what he could. Remus had helped him choose a set of books on defensive magic for Harry, which was probably better than anything Sirius could have come up with on his own. For Remus, Sirius had ordered new robes, a special salve for scrapes and bruises, and a selection of fine teas. Anything more was likely to upset Remus. Sirius had learned early on in their relationship that Remus had a hard time accepting gifts, especially those he deemed extravagant. 

After Christmas dinner, Remus—who, it turned out, had always planned on spending today with Sirius—pulled Sirius aside from the festivities. 

"I've got something to show you," he said, a hint of mischief in his smile that made Sirius feel sixteen again.

He led Sirius toward the door that opened to the courtyard, which was, last time Sirius checked, overgrown with nettles, poison ivy, fanged geraniums, and several unidentifiable shrubs of a menacing variety.

When Sirius walked through the doorway, he was startled by the temperature—it wasn't cold, as expected, but like an evening in late spring. And the dead and noxious plants had been cleared away and replaced. This explained the scratches that had appeared on Remus’s hands recently between full moons. Now there were tomatoes, parsley, rosemary, lilac, and rhododendron, among other things Sirius couldn't name. A proper muggle garden. And above, a square of night sky. Few stars, because it was London, after all, but there nonetheless.

"You're too good to me," he told Remus quietly. 

"Don't be daft," Remus said. He sat on the bench next to the lilac bush and patted the space to his left. 

Sirius joined him and leaned his head on Remus’s shoulder. 

Remus put his arm around Sirius. "I wish I could do more for you, love. I really do."

Remus did so much for him already. Even when Sirius was at his lowest and unbearable to be around. "You've no idea how much I love you," Sirius mumbled into Remus’s neck.

The way Remus kissed him suggested that he had some idea. 

Maybe this time next year, they'd be in a better place.


End file.
